Jealousy on IceBy JERE LONGMANJanuary 6, 1994
DETROIT [Thursday] - Nancy Kerrigan,
the United States' best
female figure skater and one of the goldmedal
favorites for the 1994 Olympics,
was attacked after practice today by an
unidentified man who struck
her on the right knee with a
blunt object and escaped.
The attack jeopardized
Kerrigan's chances of qualifying
for the Winter Games
next month in Lillehammer,
Norway.

Kerrigan, who is 24 and
lives in Plymouth, Mass., had
just completed a practice at
Cobo Hall in preparation for
tomorrow's competition at
the United States championships.
A witness said the
attacker, described as a
white man about 6 feet 2
inches and 200 pounds, hit
Kerrigan with a club-like
instrument resembling a tire
iron, a crowbar or a nightstick.
Kerrigan was taken to a
local hospital for X-rays then
released. No fracture was
found, according to the doctor
who treated her, who said
she suffered a cut and a
bruise and swelling but was
able to walk with a limp. The
doctor, Dr. Steven Plomaritis, said the
attack appeared calculated.

"He was clearly trying to debilitate
her," Plomaritis said.

Kerrigan's father, Dan, rushed to his
sobbing daughter, lifted her and carried
her into the locker room. "It hurts, it hurts
so bad; I'm so scared," Kerrigan told her
father.

It was not immediately known whether
Kerrigan would be able to skate tomorrow
in the short program. The right leg is the
one that Kerrigan uses to land jumps during
her skating routines. Competing in the
two-and-half-minute program would not
make the injury worse, Plomaritis said.
Essentially, it would be a matter of how
much pain she could withstand, he said.
The women's competition concludes
Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Jerry Solomon, her agent, said late
tonight that Kerrigan's knee continued to
swell, forcing the cancellation of a
planned practice. She will be examined
again by doctors tomorrow morning. "She
sustained quite a blow, physically and
emotionally as well," Solomon said.
Kerrigan told ABC Sports tonight that she
would attempt to skate
tomorrow. "It's not the most
important thing, skating,"
Kerrigan said. "If I can't I'll
have to deal with it. I'm O.K.
It could have been a lot
worse."

Today's attack was the
third threatening incident
recently that involved a figure
skater. Tonya Harding,
the 1991 national champion
and a 1992 Olympian, reported
a death threat on Nov. 4,
which caused her to withdraw
from the northwest
regional championships in
Portland, Ore. Harding said
she has been traveling with a
bodyguard. Katarina Witt of
Germany was threatened by
a man who sent her obscene
mail and who was later
ordered to spend 37 months
in a psychiatric hospital and
ordered not to contact Witt.

Tonya Harding pleaded
guilty to conspiring to hinder
prosecution in the attack
on Nancy Kerrigan and was placed on
three years' probation and fined
$160,000. Jeff Gillooly, Harding's former
husband, and three others, including her
bodyguard, Shawn Eckhardt, accused of
having hatched the plot, spent time in
prison. Harding was permanently
barred from all amateur skating competition.

(Associated Press)

Tonya Harding and an attorney, entering Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Ore.,
in March 1994. She pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in the attack on her figure-skating rival Nancy Kerrigan.Runners Up

1993: The N.F.L. consented to a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement
that altered pro football by giving players much more freedom to move
between teams. Owners were allowed to impose team salary caps, and
players got the right to unrestricted free agency.

1985: Dan Marino had perhaps his greatest day as a pro, leading the Miami Dolphins
into the Super Bowl by defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 4528, in the
American Football Conference title game at the Orange Bowl. He completed
21 of 32 passes for 421 yards and 4 touchdowns.

1976: Ted Turner, yachtsman and owner of WTBS, a satellite television station,
bought the Atlanta Braves for a reported $12 million, quickly turning their
games into prime-time programming and giving them national exposure. Partly
because of cable television revenues, the perennial losers became a dominant
team in 15 years, going from last place to first in 1991, though they lost to
the Minnesota Twins in the World Series (see Oct. 27).